Self-locking nail



p 1951' R. HALLOCK 7 2,567,935

SELF-LOCKING NAIL F iled Feb. 16, 1945 FIG. 1 FIG. 2 FIG. 3

INVENTOR. RQBERT LAY HALLOCK W. Ww/Q ATTORNEY Patented Sept. 18, 1951SELF-LOCKING NAIL Robert Lay-Hallock, Larehlnont, N. Y.. alsignor toElastic Stop Nut Corporation of America, Union Township, N. 1., acorporation of New Jersey Application February 16, 1945, Serial No.578,153

2 Claims. (CI. 8531) The present invention relates to self-locking nailsand has particular reference to nails which achieve their locking actionby distortion to spread a part of the nail when the nail is driven home.so as to grip and hold in material of such nature that the ordinary nailwill not hold with sufiicient strength.

The nail of the present invention operatein accordance with theprinciples of the nail disclosed in my co-pending application Serial No.568,279%;, filed December 15, 1944, and the general object is to providea novel and extremely simple form of nail that will have adequateholding power in building materials of a wide variety of kinds such asCelotex and other relatively soft fibrous wallboard materials; whichwill be usable with frangible materials such as gypsum or plaster-boardand the like; and which will be readily manufacturable by high speedmass production methods at extremely low cost.

The manner in which the above enumerated and other objects are obtainedand the advantages to be derived from the use of the invention will bestbe understood from the ensuing portion of this specification taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof. inwhich:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a nail embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a Pig. '1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the nail looking from the side oppositethat shown in Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the nail after having been driven home.

Referring now to the drawings the nail is made from a long narrow blankof sheet metal. At about its midportion the blank is bent back uponitself to form a driving shank Ill, a holding shank ill and a headportion consisting of two plate parts Ilia and ilib, forming betweenthem a V extending laterally from the two adjacent shanks and connectingthe latter at the head end of the nail.

The blank is first bent to the general shape shown in Fig. 2 as a firstoperation, and thereafter. by a shearing operation, projections pointingtoward the head end of the nail are formed in the two shanks, this beingindicated at 122 and III, respectively. Advantageously these projectionsare of triangular configuration but they may be of other shape and aswill be evident from a comparison of Figs. 1 and 3 the projection In onshank III is wider across its base than the projection I28 in shank I,so that the section taken on the line 2-I of webs ill in shank I arewider than the webs Illa, in shank ill. The two shanks areadvantageously, as shown, disposed in face to face contact and bothshanks are pointed, with neither of said pointed ends extendingappreciably beyond the other at the penetratim end of the nail. Thepointing operation maybe a part of the blanking operation or after thematerial is bent to the form shown in Fig. 2 the points 2 may be formedby a shearing operation simultaneous with that which forms theprojections 12: and ill. Also, the shank Ill may advantageously beprovided with a longitudinally extending stiffening rib I extending fromthe base part of the projection I22 toward the free end of the shank.

The action of the nail will be largely obvious from Fig. 4. As shown byFig. 2 the projection I22 is located in the recess provided by theoutward bending of the projection iii and when the relative longitudinalmovement between the two shanks takes place as the nail is driven homeand the head is distorted, the projection in enters the aperture in thedriving shank ill and his action operates to cause the lower end of theuolding shank to be bent outwardly as shown. It will be apparent thatthe nail will be very cheap to manufacture since the dies for forming itwill be extremely simple, and even though the shanks are fiat, I havefound that the nail is suflieiently rigid to be driven into numerouskinds of the softer types of building materials, since the apertureformed by the creation of the projection 128 is relatively narrow andsubstantial webs or ligaments to either side of this are provided.

While from a practical standpoint it is most advantageous to provide anaperture in the driving shank into which the projection on the holdingshank can pass when the nail is driven home. it will be apparent thatthe action characteristic of the invention can be effected by forming inthe driving shank a suitable recess providing an abutment against whichthe projection on the holding shank can catch and hold in order toeffect the desired bending of the holding shank.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the invention is not limitedto any given specific design but that many changes in the particularform of the nail may be made without departing from the spirit of theinvention, the scope of which is to be understood as encompassing alldevices falling within the purview of the appended claims.

What I claim is:

l. Anailcomprisingacontinuousstrlpoflhod 3 metal bent to provide twosubstantially flat adiacent shanks, one of said shanks constituting adriving shank pointed at one end to penetrate material into which thenail is driven and the second shank constituting a holding shank, saiddriving shank extending beyond said holding shank at the head end of thenail, a, collapsible head conne'oting'the. ,h'ead ends 01 said. shanks,said heacl being of loopuke form-providing an upper striking portionjoining the driving shank and a lower abutment portion joining theholding shank, said shanks being provided intermediate their ends withgenerally V-shaped tongues formed from material of the-respective shanksand pointing toward the head end of the nail,

the tongues being bent out of the planes of the respective shanks andthe tongue or the holding shank being bent to engage the wall of theaperture created by bending the tongue of the driving shank out of theplane of the latter shank, whereby upon relative movement of the holdinshank toward the head end of the nail when said head is collapsed the'i'ree end portion of the holding shank is caused to bend laterally awayfrom said driving shank.

72 A nail comprising a continuous strip of sheet metal bent to providetwo substantially flat adjacent shanks uone of said shanks constitutinga driving shank pointed at one end to penetrate material into which thenail is driven and a sec ond shank constituting a holding. shank pointedat one end to penetrate said material, neither of said pointed endsextending appreciably bev 4 yond 'the other at the penetrating end ofthe nail and said driving shank extending beyond said holding shank atthe head end of the nail, a collapsible head connecting the head ends orsaid shanks, said head being of loop-like form providing an upperstriking portion Joining the driving shank and a lower abutment portionjoining the holding shank, means providing an abutment forming a stop onsaid driving shank intermediate its ends and a projection formed on saidholding shank intermediate its ends and located to engage said stop uponrelative movement of the holding shank toward the head end of the nailand cause the free end portion of the hold- REFERENCES CITED Thefollowing references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 308,837 Frost Dec. 2, 18841,056,190 Lorenz Mar. 18, 1913 1,864,424 Franklin June 21, 19322,150,788 Shippee et al Mar. 14, 1939 2,222,338 Roberts Nov. 19, 19402,369,961 Gisondi Feb. 20, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date192,492 Great Britain Feb. 5, 1923

